Learning Objectives

  1. Understand the background to the colonists’ declaration of independence from their mother country, the colonial power of Great Britain
  2. Understand the new view of the origin and legitimacy of political power the American founders developed to justify the separation
  3. Understand the Declaration of Independence itself
  4. Understand the first constitution that followed independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the reasons it failed
  5. Understand the arguments, debates, and compromises at the Constitutional Convention that led to the new U.S. Constitution
  6. Understand the process of ratifying, or adopting, the new constitution
  7. Understand the basic constitutional principles: separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism
  8. Understand the evolution of federalism from the founding to today
  9. Understand the process of amending the Constitution